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Review:
This is a not so old release for Half-Life, it really remembers me the catacombs levels from RTCW and even if the ambiance especially sounds where a little lacking, I enjoyed it enough to make a small review of it

Design is correct but not really atmospheric, quite logic if you are in a cave: huge walls with same texturing making a sort of underground maze, texturing is repetitive and mostly straighforward so you couldn’t really be lost… in some place you will encounter tombs, blocked passage or even see Barney runing (which was a little trilling) ambiance is quite dark but misses without no doubt more sounds and “zombies” effect (like taking away sientist by holes).

Gameplay is quite basic some little puzzle quite easy button push (when it’s a little hard there is an arrow…) to make you progression but, like in RTCW you can try to find secret places (5 to 6). Fights are limited to some zombies and headcrabs…hunting for weapon is not necessary but will make it easier.

The ambience is correctly set together but misses more sounds and traps or short scenes showing “accidents’. What has also to be noticed is that situation are too static (all seems to have happened shortly before you arrive but you’ll never face a real accident)
This is actually only part one and I really hope to see a sequel in the future.

Conclusion:
A quite honest release with all put together an average construction that is highlightened here and there by some good idea (Barney running, secret places).

I didn’t really enjoy this one much. Firstly, it was too dark and too dark in a Half-Life 1 mod means that some areas always look strange. As if no light can even penetrate there, like a mini black hole.

Secondly, there just wasn’t enough action. I didn’t count but there could have only been 6 zombies and maybe 5 headcrabs. Way to much ammo and not enough bad guys.

Lastly, it was not really scary and to make a horror that is not scary is like making a cake that looks great but lacks any flavour.

Similar to Freeman’s Tomb but had this of came first in the 100SDoN I probably would have gave it a higher rating.

The action is poor, no doubt about it. There were 6 zombies, 4 headcrabs and 2 bullsquids, and they still managed to give you a 357 in there, which was just bizarre. The author probably should have just put a crowbar and the 9mmpeashooter, with little ammo, into the map. The puzzles (much like Freeman’s Tomb) were pretty good, and I thought the secrets were a really good touch, although I already mentioned my soft spot for secrets in my Freeman’s Tomb review. I managed to find secrets 1 and 5, did anyone actually get them all? The lighting was pretty annoying in places too. It wasn’t scary in the slightest either, and as Phillip said you need that for a horror based map/mod.

In fact this is very similar to Freeman’s Tomb in every way. Poor action, fun puzzles and poor lighting. If you enjoyed Freeman’s Tomb then this is worth playing.

I forgot to mention this, but reading Unq’s review reminded me of the irritation of the damage you receive from the torches. It was very unnecessary especially when you run through corridors by leaning on the walls like I do (it’s faster, srsly!) and even caused me problems when I ran down the middle. By far the huge flaw in this.

This scored too high on my annoyance factor to be recommended. The first 4 maps you’re just running around the dark with a crowbar and only a couple zombies to whack. Later you’ll get a couple guns but will barely have to use them. It’s quite dark and although the torches light things up decently for the most part, I still found I had my flashlight on almost constantly. The flashing/pulsing light from the torches is mercifully kept to a minimum, although those torches will get you for a cool 25 health if you touch them. Did I mention there’s no health in this map pack?

I suppose I missed all the secrets since I kind of just wanted this pack to end. I think perhaps no other pack in the 100 Days so far has bored me as much as this one. It simply ends with a To Be Continued… and then a bounce back to the menu.

The only redeeming factor I found was the mapping and design of the maps. In some places you have choices although you’re not likely to get lost. The maps ‘look” right given the setting, but don’t really “feel” right if that makes sense. As one reviewer said above it’s mostly static, and the mood kind of feels off. And the gameplay is totally missing.

This probably isn’t the right engine or at least game to pull off a map like this. And it would have been nice if this pack contained anything interesting beyond the setting.

The author did a good job showing that many sad events happened here – on the floor there are skeletons, dead bodies, gibs, rats, used cartridge cases. The atmosphere also aided by background sounds, collapsing.

The architecture style is – cubism (mostly). The author should have used photos of actual catacombs, underground sewer canals, bunkers, etc. for inspiration to make something more interesting than this. Most places are textured with only one texture (by the way, I think it’s the same texture Grunt Match map was textured with). Is that good or bad? Thinking about it makes me recollect the canalisations from Half-Life 2, where the number of used textures is not much higher. But these canalisations have many architectural embellishments. This mappack has them too, but we don’t meet them often enough. Filling the rectangular corridors with props, empty crates and making them dark is better than nothing, but it can’t replace good architecture.

What I liked is that when I saw the word “Catacombs” and the screenshots I was afraid of labyrinths, where search for an exit would take away much time and cause strong headache, but, thankfully, the maps” flow is good and it’s easy to complete them.

As for the secrets, I only found 1 and 4.

This mod would be a good introduction for planned but apparently cancelled mod about secret labs, especially if all boring places were replaced with architectural embellishments. As it is, it’s original, refreshing, atmospheric, but could be much better.

Some of the mods in the 100 so far have been really so bad I’ve started them but given up with the intention of going back to them if and when I could be bothered. I really regret bothering to go back to this one.

There is nothing positive I can say about this mod especially after seeing the release date is nearly 8 years after HL1 was released and around 18 months after HL2 was released. By the time this came out its unbelievable the author had not read enough tutorials to produce a better game!!

Its too dark, boring layout, next to no gameplay, uses arrows on the ground to tell you where to go (?) and did I say boring yet? The architecture and look appears no better or indeed worse than someone’s first attempt at mapping from late 1998 or early 1999.

Woow what a piece of crap, I mean I thought I lost something interesting by missing this mod in the 100 DoN but not not a all!; I mean the whole place where the mod is set, is crappy, very bad ilumination, too few ennemys mostly zombies so i’dont know how the author cother in giving a pistol and a shootgun, I mean u can kill those with crowbar and little thecnic, and ok I know this mod is about catacombs, but, I think u can not put dead grunts on them!!, I mean here we have a strange conbination of hl elements into one, horror dead mod, but I mean this is non scary at all, so don’t waste ur time on this, really low quality dark and over all really poor mapping.